Dirigible light mounting



`'1,631,480 June 7 1927- R, R, FREUND DIRIGIBLE LIGHT MOUNTING FiledJune 6, 1925 Patented June 7, 1927.

ROBERT R. FREUND, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

DIRIGIBLE LIGHT MOUNTING.

Application filed .Tune 6, 1925i. Serial No. 35,454.

This invent-ion relates to improvements in dirigible light mountings,and the invention itself more particularly embodies substantiallyimproved means, with reference to certain elements thereof bot-h in anindividual sense and as associated in combined relat tion, adapted moreespecially to beattached to the windshield of an automobile, Vfordirigibly mounting what is now commonly l face of the windshield, whileits inner end is disposed as a handle for lmanipulation from the insideof the automobile.

The ball element in such cases, however, has customarily been directlymounted and retainedV by mea-ns of a spaced pair of vertically disposedor double ring elements Jhich are suitably clamped to the windshield,around the Zone of said opening therethrough, and at positions forwardlyand rearwardly thereof, the inner peripheral surface of each of thesering elements providing for an annular bearing, and the two ringelementstaken together, therefore, forming a double ring bearing or mounting forseating the ball element in retained relation but with substantialuniversal. play.

lt accordingly follows in such cases that, if is desired to detach theball with its operating handle and lamp for any reason, such for.instance as to use the same as a trouble light, and it is oftentimesdesirable to do this, it then becomes necessary to separate ordisruptthe ring mountings for fulreleasing the ball, whereupon theforward ring element will remain upon and dangle from the lamp armsupport between the ball and the lamp. This is obviously a veryundesirable feature of such arrangements, and there is also much roomfor other improvements thereover, not only in point of actualfunctioning but further in point of prolongincY durability anddecreasing the costs of production.

One of the primary objects of my invention, therefore, has beenV todevise simple means for effectively overcoming the aforesaid undesirablefeature, and the same is accomplished by employing Va specially formedand equipped one of the paired clamping ring elements as the sole actualbearing seatfor the ball element, whereby the ball element will besnugly seated wholly thereby but with substantially universal'play andin facilely demountalole relation, with out the necessity of disturbingeither of said clamping ring elements when once attached to thewindshield, the said ball element heilig' held up annularly against theinner peripheral face of said specially formed ring element by means ofresiliently controlled retaining` elements under regulable tension.

Another preferable feat-ure of the improvements is to provide the ballelement, together with the lamp arm support and its operating handle, asa separable or divided twopart hollow unit, the sections of which maypreferably be stamped out of metal, with the opposed lamp arm supportand handle sections respectively made integrally with theirlintermediate complementary semispherical section or half of the ballelement,

This construction would not only provide for economical manufacture andassembly,las well a-s insuring more lasting durability and maximumstrength against any breakage or separation of these parts, but alsosuch a hollow construction provides for the neatly compact housing ofcertain elements, includ ing more vespecially the housing within the.ball itself vof the major portion of the aforementioned resilientlycontrolled ball retaining elements, and one of which retaining elcmentsmay providefor, as a furtherdesired aim of the improvements, a conduittube or sleeve for the passage of the circuit wires leading from'thecurrent supply source to the lamp and to 4an electric switch, whichlatter is housed within the hollow handle portion.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages, however, includingsimplicity of parts, compactness in combined structure, neatness ofappearance, effective operation and durability in use, and comparativelylow costs for production and installation, will be Vclearly apparent asincidental to the following disclosure, and with these general outlinlngremarks, therefore, reference will now be Vimmediatel i had to theaccomnan ino drawd l y a Ll Il) ings, illustrating a practicalembodiment of theimprovements, in which drawings Figure 1 is a centralvertical longitudinal sectional view through the improved light mountingas an assembled whole, with oneha-lf of the ball, handle andlamp armsupport removed, and as associated with the windshield of anautomobile,although as a matter of fact the glass windshield shown, inso far'as the actual invention' is concerned, could be 'any wall and notnecessarily the windshield of an automobile;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken along the line 2of Figure 1, and looking towards the underneath face of the ballelement;

F igure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view, taken along the line 3of'F'igure 1, ant looking towards the lower peripheral inside ffice ofthe actual seating ring element, for the ball, 'and a bifurcatedrearwardly projected lip thereof;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, analogous to 'Figure 1 withthe resiliently controlled ball retaining means omitted, be ingsubstantially a cross-sectional view of Figure 3 with said retainingmeans omitted, for more clearly vshowing the disposition of saidbifurcated lip 'relatively to the ball element;

Figure 4 is a verticaltransverse 'crosssectionalv view along the linei-t of Figure 1, with the circuit wires omitted; and

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse crosssectional view substantiallyalong the line 5-5 of Figure1, with the electrical switch element shownconventionally in outline only.

The numeral indicatesany suitable wall support, although designated asthe windshield of anv automobile, which is provided with an enlargedaperture 11, for the reception of annular inturned inner peripheral websor rims 19 and 13, respectively, of forwardly and rearwardly locatedflanged clamping ring elements, the webs 14 and 15 of which arepreferably of opposed concave form and slightly springy, for tensionalclamping to the wall 10 around its aperture 11, beingclainped thereto asby bolts 16 extending through said aperture, and shown equidistantlyspaced apart.

The rim 13 of the rearring element is adapted to snugly encompass therim 12 of the forward ring element, but it is to be particularly notedthatthe inner peripheral face of the rim 12 is formed with a laterallycurving concave face that is of gradual slightly increasing diameterfrom its rear to its forward edge, soA that the ball element may befreely inserted and withdrawn.

through the forward opening, and it being further noted that from thelower rear edge of said rim 12 there is rearwardly projected abifurcated or slotted lip or lug, indicated by the laterally inturningclaw-like lingers l7--18, the slotthereof opening rearwardly and beingotherwise of annular-like forni as lamp reflector casing 24 and mountingand 'Y housing the contactend of the electric lamp therefor, with itsassociated parts not neces-l sary to describe, and the ball elements arealso providedwith arearwardly projected cha-inbered operating handle,which latter may be in the form ofa pistol grip. As has before beenstated, these parts are preferably die-pressed or stamped as a whole, inhalf sections, from a. suitable metal, both for econoiny in productionand durability and strength in use, and would then consist of thelintegrally' formed shell sections .2l-23- 25 and 22-23-26. The hollowhandle sections 25-26 may be formed with complenientary edge facerecesses to provide upper an'dlower small apertures 27-'28 for thereception of a reciprocating switch-throw rod 29, shown incircuit-closing position, associated with suitable contact elements ofan electric switch, contained in the handle chamber and shownconventionally in outline at 80, although obviously the switch may be ofany suitable type and controlled by a trigger arm if desired, in themanner of a pistol trigger, as is well understood and practised withthese devices. Also, although not specially illustrated, the handleportion may be substantially weighted, if desired, by any suitableweighting element, preferably contained within the rear end of thehollow handle, to serve as a counterbalancing weight for the forwardlamp supporting end of the device.

One of the switch contact elements may be grounded to the handlesection, in circuit with tlie ferrule base of the electric lainp, withaninsulated circuit wire SQ leading frointhe other contact element of theswitch to the electric supply source, while another insulated circuitwire 33 leads from said electric supply source direct to thecentralterminal contact ineans for the lamp. and when the aforesaidhalved sections are assembled, with various elements housed 'therein ashereinafter appearing, they are securely held together, for conjointactuation, by means of a cross-bolt 31 or equivalent means.

Before 'the halved sections are assembled, however, there is placed inone half of the ball section the resiliently controlled retaining means,hereinbeforc mentioned, einbodying a dished member 35, centrallyapertured as atr 3G, through which aperture there is projected anexternally threaded rod 37, having a flanged head or shoulder 39 at itsvinner end, between which and the concave the cross-section of said rod,lwhereby the rod 37 is longitudinally adjustable through said dishedmember, but is secured thereto against independent arcuate mfwenient,the outer convex surface of said dished member being of the samecurvature as and adapted to seat down against'the inside surface theball element, in relatively arcuate sliding relation with and as acovering closure for the said slot 20. The rod 37 is preferably providedwith a longitudinal bore l0 therethrough or in other words it ispreferably an open-ended short tube, in which event it would also serveconduit sleeve or tube for the passage of the circuit wires 32--33, inaddition to its primary functioning as an element of the ,aforesaidretaining means, under regulable tension, for holding the ball elementseated up against its supporting bearing ring element 12 as will laterappear.

Obviously, therefore, the making of this rod 37 of tubular form is avery important feature of the present improvements, but as a matter offact it is not'strictlyessential that it necessarily be tubular, in sofar as the lbroaden: invention is involved, because the circuit wires32-33 could be disposed other- `wise than actually passing through saidrod 37, although any other arrangement would neither be so` convenientnor satisfactory from various aspects.

The inside face of the nut l2 mounts a washer 4A that has a centralaperture i6 of the contour ofthe cross-section of the rod 37, the saidaperture being bounded by an inner peripheral [lange rim 45, a pair ofopposed portions of which are of annular disposition and alternate withopposed parallel portions. Each of the said parallel sides have anoutwardlyV projecting` radial. lug, stop or rounded `teat-lilieprotuberance, indicated at47-fl8 in lFigure 3, which may be formed bydepressions on the inside faces of said sides, and which terminateapproximately at positions in the arc of said annularly disposed sides.i

`As will be seen from Figures l, 3 and d, the inner liange rim 45, ofthe washer del, is adapted for rotatable mounting within theannular-like slot 19, formed between the laterally inturning claw-likelingers 117-18` that are projected from the lower rear portion of thebearing rim 12, the stops @L7-A8 preventing any dislodgment through therearwardly opening end of the slot 19, when the parts are in theposition shown at Fig'- ure 23, and the annularly disposed portions ofthe rim l5 likewise preventing any such dislodgemont at other rotatedpositions of the washer.

N ow, assuming that the parts 1Q to 1S are mounted in attachedassociation with the apvertured windshield or wall 10, the manner ofattachment being obvious from Figure 1 and the foregoing description,and further 'assuming that the parts 21 to -lll have been assembled asthe lamp supporting unit, which also will be understood from theforegoing description, then in order to mount this lamp supporting unit,and exactly the reverse will be true with reference to the faciledismounting` of the same, the handle 25-26 is initially projectedrearwardly through the rim 12 until the approximately central portion ofthe ball element is encompassed by said rim. To do this more readily,the rod37 should be positioned towards the rear end of the slot 20. Viththe nut e2 unscrewed out towards the end of the rod 37, this rod is nowmoved forwardly in the slot 2O until the rim 45, of the washer 44:, isdisposed directly underneath the annular-like slot 19 of the bifurcatedlip of the rim 12, the rod 37 passing in between the fingers 17-18thereof, whereupon and on screwing up the nut l2 the rim 45, of thewasher del, will enter the said annular-like slot 19, in rotatablerelation therein but held against dislodgment through the rearwardlyopening end of said slot, while the upper face of the washer proper willseat up against the underneath faces of said fingersA As the nut 42 isscrewed home on the rod 87, it will be apparent that the rod 37 will beradially drawn outwardly, thus compressing the spring l1 and forcing thedished member rearwardly and downwardly in snug' and firm Contact,butwith resilient give, against the inner surface of the ball element inthe zone of its elongated slot 20. In doing this, it follows that theball element itself will be drawn inwardly, with a rearwardly anddownwardly exerted force, for the snug universally rotatable seat-ing`of the same annularly against the rear inner bear- Ving surface of itsseatingrim 12, being entirely outof contact with the open forward Yportion of said rim 12, at which forward position the said rim is ofslightly greater diameter than the diameter ofthe ball. vAccordingly,any suitable tension may thus be imposed upon the ball, with referencetothe desired degree of rictional control thereof, for holding the sameresiliently adjusted, in universally rotatable bearing engagement,firmly against its annular seating lace, which latter is supplied solelyby the inner peripheral surface of the rim 12.

Although thus interlockingly mounted against rearward displacement, andsubstantially so against forward displacement, excepting that therewould be a very limited give forwardly` underv resilient tension, whichcould be availed of to relieve t'riction in shitting the light tovarying positions, it will nevertheless-be readily seen that the ballelementA and hence the lamp, may 'be turned in any vertical or lateralarc within certain limits, restricted only by the lamp casing contactingthe wall l0, but, it desired, suitable means could readily be suppliedto limit the upward swing ot the lamp, beyond a predetermined horizontalplane, when in substantially centralized position.

This substantially universal movement is permitted because when the ballis turned vertically its slot 2O permits ot a tree motion ot' the ballin that direction, excepting tor the resilient tension thereon,relatively to the radially anchored rod 37 contained within said slot,but when the ball is turned laterally it will rotate conjointly with therod 37, as its axis, and with the dished member 35, the washer 44 andthe nut 42, the said washer providing an outer bearing tor the rod 37,being interposed between the nut 42 and the ,aforesaid biturcated' lip,so that the nut 42 will turn in fixed relation with the rod, andtherefore will neither be loosened nor tightened up thereon when the rodturns about its longitudinal axis.

Although I have thus fully set forth the invention from various angles,it will nevertheless be understood that I do not wish to unnecessarilyrestrict the improvements to all of the details exactly as disclosed,excepting as they may come within the terms of the claims, or equivalentelements or combinations thereof, orvas fairly interpreted in the lightot the specification if necessary, because it is obvious that some otthe features may beV altered or substituted tor without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. What I do claim, however, as new andpatentable, is

nally movable through saidslots, a retaining member within said ball andassociated with said rod to be held thereby in engagement with the innerperipheral lace ot' said ball, and external means coacting with said earand the outer end ot said rod tor radially adjusting said rod.

ln dirigible light mountings, the combination ot a ball seating rim otapproximately spherical curvatures, a ball mounted therein and therebyas a sole bearing support tor the ball, lamp supporting means associatedwith said bail, the rear ot' said rim having a biturcated ear, forming aslot open at its outer end, and said ball havingl an interior chamberwith a peripherally opening elongated slot, tor registration with theslot ot said ear, a radial rod longitudinally movable through saidslots, a retaining member freely encompassing said rod within said balland in engagement with the inner peripheral tace of the latter,resilient means engagingly interposed between the inner portion ot saidrod and said retaining member, and external means coacting with said earand the outer end of said rod or radially adjusting said rod.

ln dirigible light mountings, the combination ot a ball seating rim otlapproximately spherical curvature, a ball mounted therein and thereby asa sole bearing support for the ball, lamp supporting means associatedwith said ball, the rear ot said rim having a biturcated ear, tormingaslot open at its outer end, and said ball having an interior chamberwith a peripherally opening elongated slot, for registration -with theslot ot said ear, a radial rod threaded at its outer end andlongitudinally movable through said slots, a retaining member withinsaid ball and so associated with said rod as to be suitably held therebyin engagement with the inner peripheral tace ot said ball, a. nut on theouter end of said rod, and a washer interposed between said nut and saidbiturcated ear, the said washer having a central inturned flange rimentering the slot ot said ear.

4. In dirigible light` mountings, the combination ot a ball seating rimot approximately spherical curvature, a ball mounted therein andthereby, lamp supporting means associated with said ball, the rear otsaid rim having a biturcated ear, forming a slot open at its outer end,and said ball having an interior chamber with a peripherallv openingelongated slot, for registration with the slot ot said ear, a radial rodlongitudinally movable through said slots, the said rod having anopposed pair ot lattened sides and being threaded at its `outer end, aretaining member within said ball and so associated with saidv rod as tobe suitably held thereby in engagement with the inner peripheral tace ofsaid ball, a. nut on the lill ian

outer end oit' said rod, and a washer interposed between said nut andsaid bifurcated ear, the said washer having a central inturned flangerim entering the slot oi said ear, the said flange rim having an opposedpair of flattened sides,l forming its aperture of the samecross-sectional form of said rod, and' the ilattened sides ot saidflange rim being provided with outwardly disposed stops terminating inthe arc of its roundrd sides.

5. In dirigible light mountings,`the combination of a ball seating rimof approximately spherical curvature, a hollow ball mounted therein andthereby and having a forward electric lamp supporting arm and arearwardly disposed chambered handle, the rear of said rim having abifurcated ear forming a slot, open at its outer end, for registrationwith an elongated slot through the wall of said ball, an electric switchcarried by said handle, a hollow radial rod longitudinally movablethrough said slots, a retaining member withinv said ball and soassociated' with said rod as to be suitably held thereby in engagementwith the inner peripheral face of said ball, and external means coactingwith said ear and the outer end of said rod for radially adjusting thelatter, the said hollow rod additionally functioning for the passage ofcircuit wires in connection with said lampk and switch.

6. In dirigible light mountings, the combination of a ball seating rimof approximately spherical curvature, a hollow ball mounted therein andthereby and having a forward electric lamp supporting arm and arearwardly disposed chambered handle, the

rear of said rim having a bifurcated ear forming a slot, open at itsouter end, for registration with an elongated slot through the wall ofsaid ball, an electric switch carried by said handle, a hollow radialrod longitudinally movable through said slots, a retaining member freelyencompassing said rod within said ball and in engagement with the innerperipheral face of the latter, resilient means engagingly interposedbetween said rod and said retaining member, and external means coactingwith said car and the outer end of said V rod for radially adjusting thelatter, the said hollow rod additionally functioning tor the passage ofcircuit wires in connection with said lamp and switch.

7. In dirigible light mountings, the combination of a ball seating rimof approximately spherical curvature, a combined hollow ball, electriclamp arm support and operating handle, integrally formed as twopartseparable shell sections, the said ball being mounted within said rim asthe bearing support for the ball, and the rear of said rim having abifurcated ear forming a slot, open at its outer end, for registrationwith an elongated slot through the wall of said ball, a radial rodlongitudinally movable through said slots, a retaining member withinsaid ball and so associated with said rod as to be suitably held therebyin'engagement with the inner peripheral face of said ball, and externalmeans coacting with said ear and the outer end of said rod for radiallyadjusting said rod.

In testimony whereof, I alix my signature.

ROBERT R; FREUND.

